DAP MP rescinds claim Pakatan-run air force would find MH370

(MM) – DAP lawmaker Lim Lip Eng has expressed “regret” for saying Pakatan Rakyat (PR) would locate missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 if it were given command of the air force and navy.

In a brief statement in response to a report by The Malay Mail Online today, the Segambut MP said he was now rescinding the earlier declaration.

“I wish to retract my statement ‘It’s very simple. Make one of DAP’s leaders the commander of the air force or navy, then we will find MH370,’ please accept my expression of deep regret for having made that comment,” Lim wrote today.

Lim earlier made the remarks in response to a previous challenge by former MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek.

Yesterday, Dr Chua slammed PR for exploiting the MH370 crisis, saying it was “disgusting and dirty politics” to score political points when the Barisan Nasional-led government had done everything in its power to find the Malaysia Airlines-owned Boeing 777-200.

Lim’s statement today drew criticism from Barisan Nasional’s (BN) Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan and Datuk Wee Ka Siong, who labelled the remark “stupid” and “insensitive” toward the families with relatives aboard the missing plane.

DAP vice chairman M. Kulasegaran sought to play down Lim’s remarks, saying that the MP had meant it as a “joke”.

“I think it’s just a joke. He jokes a lot. I’m sure he doesn’t mean it,” he said.

MH370 and the 239 people on board disappeared less than an hour after the Beijing-bound flight left Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 12.41am on March 8.

The search now has been narrowed down to a vast area in the southern region of the Indian Ocean, where satellite imagery from several countries sighted numerous objects believed to be related to the missing plane.

Families of the 153 Chinese passengers, however, have blamed the Malaysian government of hiding information related to the search, with some accusing Malaysian authorities of being murderers.